A couple have been left devastated after a Herefordshire wedding venue cancelled their wedding just a week before they were due to tie the knot due to safety concerns.
James and fiancée Kirsty are still hoping to get married this Saturday, with a new venue offering to help them.
James told Your Herefordshire:
“My fiancée Kirsty and I began meticulously planning our perfect day 14 months ago.
“With only a week to go, we had every detail perfectly orchestrated for what should be the best day of our lives… or so we thought.
“We received a call out of the blue in the afternoon of Friday 08.03.24, 8 days before the big day. The call was from our current venue in Hereford.
“The local venue informed us that following a fire last year, they still had safety issues that had not passed the required safety inspection, and that they legally could not have anyone stay at the venue.
“This is due to their fire alarm system no longer functioning, making it no longer viable to proceed.
“Both my fiancée and I were in shock and utter disbelief. How could this happen? Why weren’t we told earlier? What are we going to do!? We have family travelling far and wide, where will they stay?
“We immediately got to work, desperately trying everything and anything we could to salvage the day. Our first call was to Glewstone Court Country House in Ross-on-Wye.
“From our very first point of contact with Glewstone Court Country House, we were overwhelmed at just how supportive, friendly and helpful the team were.
“Firstly, we spoke with Sam, who immediately sprang into action. He began taking details and reassured me that he would do everything he could to support us and get the appropriate member of the team Joel, the Head of Sales at Glewstone Court, to contact us within the hour.
“Approximately just 20 minutes later, sure enough Joel returned my call. To say Joel went above and beyond to do all he could for us, is an understatement.
“From the get-go, Joel simply couldn’t do enough for us. He was beyond helpful and worked closely with us from around 4:30pm until 8:30pm that evening, meticulously planning every detail.
“Behind the scenes, Joel was in constant contact with the rest of the team at Glewstone, ensuring all our questions were answered without delay.
“Taking our current circumstances into consideration, Joel was even in contact with Gary Homewood, Owner & Managing Director of Glewstone Court, who told Joel to “do what you have to do to help us make this happen for them”. Joel also arranged for us to have a meeting with Gary the very next day.
“Upon meeting Gary at the beautiful Glewstone Court Country House, Kirsty and I were immediately put at ease.
“Gary agreed to host the wedding at his venue, with only 6 days’ notice, and his fantastic team literally took all the logistics, planning and all other aspects of the day out of our hands with immediate effect.
“They have since been working around the clock to deliver a perfect day for us.
“Given the fact that all of our money is still tied up in our current venue, the team at Glewstone Court took pity on us, reducing their pricing and going the extra mile to ensure they could deliver everything required at a price which has helped with our current situation.
“The problem now, is paying for this. With every penny of our hard-earned money currently tied up in our original venue.
“Glewstone Court understandably is incurring costs which we are currently unable to meet at this moment in time.
“We have been in contact with the Manager of the original venue, who told us that they don’t have our money…
“We have wedding insurance; however, we were unable to make contact with them until Monday 11.03.24. We will now be forced to wait whilst the matter is investigated, which has been hampered further by our previous venues lack of communication and cooperation.
“It was suggested to me, that given the community spirit of my fellow Herefordians, we should start a crowdfunding campaign, https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/can-you-help-us-to-save-the-day with the goal of meeting our 4 day deadline in time.
“Should the insurance or the refund become available, we would of course then make a large charitable donation.
“We aren’t looking for a free ride, just the opportunity to have the perfect day we scrimped and saved for all this time.
“Best Regards, James.”
What an awful thing to happen, so close to this couples big day. If you can support them, it will be hugely appreciated.
We wish James and Kirsty all the very best.
